Judicial probe ordered into Dimapur lynching; DC, SP suspended

Dimapur (Nagaland), March 6 (IANS) The Nagaland government Friday ordered a judicial probe into Thursday's incident of a mob breaking into the high-security central jail here and lynching a rape accused.

The government also suspended the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Dimapur district for their failure to tackle the situation.

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang, who chaired a cabinet meeting Friday, said: "It is highly condemnable incident. The cabinet decided to suspend the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Dimapur district immediately for their failure to tackle the situation."

"The deputy commissioner and superintendent of police should have taken pre-emptive measures to contain the situation. But they have failed," he said.

Zeliang said fresh orders have been issued to all the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police in the state to protect the non-locals, particularly people belonging to minority communities.

Syed Farid Khan, a 35-year-old second-hand car dealer, had allegedly raped a 20-year-old Naga woman on February 23 and 24 at different locations. Police arrested Khan on February 25 and a lower court sent him to judicial custody.

Khan, who hails from from Assam, was dragged out of the jail by an irate mob, paraded naked and then thrashed to death on Thursday, forcing the authorities to clamp curfew in the district.

The chief minister said culprits behind the in incident will be brought to the book soon and police are on the job to identify them.

The situation is slowly returning to normal with no reports of any untoward incident on Friday even as Section 144 continues to be in force in and around the town.

The authorities have imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits unlawful assembly, in and around the town and deployed additional security forces in all the sensitive areas.

One of the four protesters, who received bullet injuries during police firing on Thursday, breathed his last, police said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Zeliang Friday assured his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi that necessary action would be taken against the perpetrators, who broke into the jail and lynched the alleged rapist.

In a telephonic conversation, Zeliang told Gogoi that a judicial probe into the incident has already been initiated.

"Zeliang further assured a thorough investigation into the matter and anyone found guilty would be punished accordingly. Zeliang also assured that if there were lapses on part of the officials, then necessary steps would be taken against them too," Assam Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

In New Delhi, a union home ministry official told IANS that the central government has sought a detailed report from the Nagaland government on the incident.

"The ministry of home affairs has asked for a report on the incident," he said, adding that the situation in Dimapur, where curfew was in place, and elsewhere in the state was under control.